Of course, for the average insider in the gambling stone industry, having more people to share the risk is a good thing.
But Chen Yiyang, prompted by the reminder from the bargain software, is already certain that this stone will definitely be worth more after cutting.
So when he proposes letting Ah Niu contribute two thousand yuan to join in, it's not for risk-sharing.
Instead, he realizes that in the jade industry, without an insider's connections, it's really easy to stumble, even though he's already kind of cheating.
Given this, why not use this two thousand yuan to network for himself.
In the future, if there's another chance to find bargain jade stones, he can directly ask Ah Niu to help him evaluate.
After quoting a price of thirty-seven thousand, the other side agreed.
Chen Yiyang transferred the thirty-seven thousand yuan to the middleman sister, who would deduct her commission before passing it to the seller.
Of course, after this, it has nothing to do with Chen Yiyang.
After the on-site handover of the rough stone, Chen Yiyang put the stone in his pocket, then asked Ah Niu, "Brother Niu, do you know where we can cut the stone?"
"You need to leave the market and go to the street next door to cut the stone," Ah Niu explained.
Chen Yiyang curiously inquired, "Why don't they open a stone-cutting shop inside this market?"
"First of all, it's inconvenient because cutting stones requires large cutting machines, which pose a fire hazard.
Secondly, people's hearts are unpredictable. You buy a stone here and immediately take it next door to cut. If it ends up worthless, it affects the stall owner's business. If it's profitable, you're bound to attract unwanted attention.
So the raw stone trading market is generally separate from the cutting location. Those scenes on TV where people buy stones and immediately cut them next door are staged.
In our industry, making money requires discretion. No matter how much you earn all year, when you go out, you always say that you lost money."
After explaining to Chen Yiyang, Ah Niu suddenly curiously asked, "Since you know nothing, why did you suddenly decide to come buy a stone?"
"Not to lie," Chen Yiyang said, "I had a dream the night before last, where my great-grandfather told me he had connections below and helped me pick out a stone to buy for fortune. So I came today."
"Looks like you haven't spared burning paper money for your great-grandfather down there," Ah Niu assumed Chen Yiyang was making up a story and played along.
However, it isn't uncommon for newbies to occasionally rush into the jade industry heedlessly.
There's always someone who reads novels or watches TV dramas and thinks they're that one-in-a-million chosen one, so they run here to buy stones.
A large number of these people, let alone buy stones to uncover jadeite, can't even buy proper jadeite rough stones!
Once they reveal their novice status, they'd immediately be deceived out of most of their money with fake stones unable to reveal jadeite.
Many stones bought are not jadeite rough stones at all; they are simply stones, cutting open to reveal nothing but rock.
Moreover, you can't accuse people of fraud because the stones sold are not picked up from the roadside; they are legitimately mined from jade pits.
Legally speaking, these stones and stones that can reveal jadeite come from the same origin, the same pit, and are considered the same commodity.
Because jadeite rough stone is also just a stone before revealing jadeite.
Someone like Chen Yiyang, who manages to find a proper consignment stall for jadeite rough stones, is already doing pretty well.
Leaving the Jade Trading Market, Chen Yiyang and Ah Niu walked over one street before reaching the place for cutting stones.
"This entire street is filled with shops processing jadeite and cutting rough stones."
Ah Niu explained to Chen Yiyang, "My family's shop is also here. Don't be fooled by the dirt and mess. Many people's electric car trunks are loaded with stones worth tens of thousands.
From the beginning to the end of the street, it's filled with cameras, with no blind spots. All surveillance videos are stored for over a year."
"Then it's very safe here."
Chen Yiyang expressed his thoughts, glancing at the dense array of cameras on both sides of the street.
"Whether it's safe depends on your definition of safety," Ah Niu said, "If you mean stealing, robbing, then definitely not. But the number of conmen thriving here is high. Some prefer doing honest business but as soon as he notices you know nothing, he'll scam you to death."
"Let's cut at this shop. The owner has good techniques and rarely cuts stones badly." Since he also contributed two thousand yuan, Ah Niu paid close attention to this stone.
"Brother Niu, have you found good goods again?" The shop owner greeted familiarly as Ah Niu and Chen Yiyang walked in.
"Co-bought a stone with a friend. Confident in you, that's why I came here to cut it."
"Alright," the shopkeeper got up to ask, "How do you want to cut it, slice or thread cutting?"
"Give me the stone first." Ah Niu took the stone from Chen Yiyang, then found a pen from his pocket to draw some lines on the stone.
"We have to open another window on this stone to check the pattern. Old He, lend me your tools, I'll window the back side of the stone."
Upon hearing this, the shop owner Old He handed over a hand-held grinder to Ah Niu.
Ah Niu first cleaned the stone under the tap and then began carefully windowing the back side using the grinder.
This took over half an hour.
"How is it?" Chen Yiyang softly asked.
"This stone's original window spot has a particularly tight stone shield. The jade quality beneath this shield is the best within this stone. It's also why the original owner would open the window here."
```
But now we need to cut the stone; ideally, we first examine the part of the stone's backside with loose stone skin to see the quality of the jade before deciding where to cut.
The place I've cut now has decent jade quality, but you see this striped crack inside, extending all the way through. Jade like this can't be made into bracelets; it can only be used for ornaments or beads.
So I have to open another window to see if the good quality part can be made into a bracelet."
As Niu continued to grind the stone skin, he further explained to Chen Yiyang, "For stones like these, the value isn't in having an exceptionally good piece of jade but in whether we can cut out a bracelet.
If we can cut out a bracelet, then the value will increase. If we can't, we'll have to split this stone into several pieces according to the cracks and jade quality, then see which ones can be used for ornaments."
"Alright, the new window has fewer cracks, and the jade quality is good too." Niu opened another window and exclaimed excitedly, "With this quality, we can remove all the skin and cut it with a wire."
"What's the difference between the two?" Chen Yiyang asked.
"A slice cut is done using a material-cutting machine." Niu pointed to a machine in the shop with a tall circular alloy steel saw blade,
"This machine cuts quickly and can easily split the stone in half. But because it's not precise, it often results in jade loss.
Wire cutting uses a smaller machine over there, which slowly cuts the jade with a diamond wire; it generally doesn't cause jade loss. But it's more expensive.
For this stone of ours, a slice cut can be done for a few hundred, but starting up the wire cutting costs a thousand."
"Let's go with wire cutting." Knowing the stone's value would definitely rise, Chen Yiyang said confidently.
"Okay." Niu carefully removed the skin from this piece of jade rough worth tens of thousands, then marked the cracks with a pen.
"As long as this cut stops the crack from going deeper, we have hope for our bracelet."
After removing all the skin, Niu felt more confident about this stone.
In his professional terms, after skin removal, the icy jadeite fully reveals itself, with sheer visual clarity and robust icy quality.
As long as there's no major crack inside the jade, this stone's value is sure to increase.
"I have to personally oversee the cutting." Niu took the stone to the wire cutting machine, turned it on himself, and started cutting slowly.
A lot of tap water poured down to cool while the wire cutting machine operated.
Niu carefully cut the stone worth hundreds of thousands into several pieces along the cracks.
"There it is, there it is!"
Halfway through the cutting, Niu's face couldn't hide his excitement anymore.
"We already have one bracelet." He placed the cut stone on the table.
Niu pointed to the largest slice and said to Chen Yiyang, "This piece is more than enough for a bracelet, worth twenty thousand alone.
Then these small pieces with cracks can be cut along the cracks later to make ornaments or landscape plaques. Plus, these small leftover materials can be made into beads. This stone can be sold for about twenty-five thousand in total."
In just half a day, thirty-seven thousand turned into twenty-five thousand.
This stone gambling is really thrilling.
Chen Yiyang sat down heavily on a bench nearby.
Niu, both pleased and examining the stones, asked Chen Yiyang, "Do you plan to craft this jade yourself, or have someone else sell it?"
"What's the difference between them?" Chen Yiyang asked.
"If you have someone make it into finished products yourself, it'll take about half a month. You'd need to find a reliable engraver during this time. If you don't plan to keep the finished products yourself, you'd also need to find related jewelry stores for sale."
"Brother Niu, do you want to buy these stones? If not, I'll sell them to you." After hearing all the upcoming hassles, the slow return cycle made Chen Yiyang decide.
He planned to sell directly to Niu.
Now that the stone was completely cut open and the value was clear, even selling on his own would match Niu's estimated price earlier.
It's better to sell it directly to Niu.
"I bought this stone for thirty-seven thousand, Brother Niu; you offered two thousand. So that's equivalent to zero point zero five four, meaning this twenty-five thousand stone, Brother Niu, you own thirteen thousand five hundred. Wiping out the fractions, you give me twenty-three thousand six hundred, and the stone is yours, okay?"
"Why wouldn't it be okay!" Niu agreed happily.
His business was indeed buying stones, crafting finished products, and slowly selling them.
Buying this stone for twenty-three thousand six hundred won't yield much profit, mostly just earning hard-earned money.
But it's guaranteed profit without loss.
Niu immediately transferred the money to Chen Yiyang.
"Brother Niu, if I dream again of my great-grandfather showing me stones underground, I'll come find you."
"When you say this, I feel a chill on my body." Niu hugged his shoulders and glanced at the time.
"It's already nighttime. I intended to invite you to my shop for tea, but there's no time."
"Next time." Chen Yiyang waved goodbye to Niu.